


Believing

by Wendi



Series: Sanctuary [3]
Category: DCU Animated, Smallville
Genre: Alternate Timeline, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-06
Updated: 2009-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-04 05:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wendi/pseuds/Wendi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 3 of the <i>Sanctuary</i> series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Believing

"If you're going to lie to me, at least make it interesting." Chloe tucked her arms tighter over her chest, letting her thoroughly unimpressed attitude soak into him like the dew from the lawn that was currently soaking the hem of her pajama bottoms.

 

"I swear to you, I live in Nebraska!"

 

"And you just ran over here in the space of a couple of minutes--"

 

"Under one minute!" Wally protested.

 

"Because you're a mutant."

 

"Given your experience with the term, could we just say I'm special?"

 

Chloe refused to notice that he was cute, in that skinny, gangly, geeky way that always caught her eye. Redheads were more trouble than they were worth and if he lied to her again she would wipe that boyish smile right off his face with the bottom of her slipper. "Given the fact that you've got me on my front lawn, after midnight to--" Chloe sputtered and waved one hand in a tight, indignant arc "_Lie?_ to me? No, we can't just call you special. I have _so_ many choice names I could think of, and special doesn't even make the long list."

 

"I can prove where I live!" Wally fished out his wallet from his back pocket, flipping it open with a quick thumb to insure his ancient, stolen condom remained stashed behind the emergency gas card. He handed over his driver's license with all the flourish of a proud sixteen year old who had no idea how idiotic they looked in the picture. "See? Blue Valley, Nebraska. Right there."

 

"Then why are you always talking about Missouri?" Chloe looked up with a skeptical quirk of brows.

 

"Because that's where my aunt and uncle live. Central City. It's where I stay whenever I'm not in school." Wally took his license back and tucked it away, demanding incredulously. "Why are you so suspicious?!"

 

Chloe's cheeks flushed as she pulled her hesitant curiosity back inside a wall of indignance. "Hello, you were _just_ talking to me five minutes ago _from_ Missouri and I'm not allowed to think it's a little odd that you could get here that fast?"

 

Wally tilted his head back, grabbing it as he reiterated for the umpteenth time. "Because I'm a speedster!" Brows knitting into a frown he crossed his arms over his chest. "Have you been paying attention at all?"

 

"That's it. I don't care who you are or what little superpowers you think you have--" Chloe started back up the front steps, intent on locking the door and wiping out her online chat identity to keep the wackos at bay.

 

"One superpower. It's one, okay?" Wally zipped in front of her, grinning when she walked right into him and bounced back off his chest. He righted her with a quick grip of her shoulders and inwardly smacked himself for noticing that she had squeezably soft arms. "Can I prove it to you?"

 

Chloe narrowed her eyes, still trying to negotiate how he moved that fast. Then again, she'd had a lot of experience with a guy who could disappear in a blink. "Prove it how?"

 

"Come for a run with me." Brows leaping up, Wally added quickly. "Just a short one." He tilted his head, wheedling away at her skeptical reserve. "You know you want to see it for yourself, and the thing is, I'm kind of so fast, you _can't_ see it for yourself."

 

"I don't even know you." Chloe turned around on the top step, starting back down to the lawn as her reserve melted away. Skinny, geeky boys were her meteor rocks, apparently. Weird behavior, ahoy. "All right," she finally agreed, turning and tilting her chin up in challenge. "Take me to the edge of town."

 

Wally rolled his eyes. "That's all?" Sighing reluctantly, he jumped down off the steps into the grass beside of her, grinning once in warning. "Hold on." He scooped her up into his arms and tried not to act as giddy as he felt. She wasn't heavy, but she was an armful, and this would be the first time he'd actually ran with anything besides the sacks of potatoes or flour that Uncle Barry always left in remote areas for him to retrieve. Wally was pretty sure that last sack of potatoes didn't smell like toothpaste and Caress, but he wasn't complaining. Things were definitely looking up; she was a lot prettier than Fred Burkle and had way more curves.

 

"Okay, whatever you're grinning about is probably inexcusably sexist." Chloe narrowed her eyes and fought to keep her own cool detachment as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Someone was actually about to share something really big with her, virtually unprompted. It must be after midnight, because her crappy day had officially come to an end.

 

"Tuck your head against my--" Wally felt a thrill shimmer beneath his skin when he felt the curve of her nose settle against his neck as her arms curled over his shoulders. "Yeah. Okay," he breathed out in a pleased rush, trying not to squeeze her from the excitement of finally sharing the biggest thing in his life. Taking off, he stopped a heartbeat later on the edge of town, waiting for her to lift her head for a peek. "So. This is Weirdsville." Huh. He wasn't impressed. Where were the meteor mutants? He had kind of been hoping for zombies with green, glowing eyes staggering through the streets like something that escaped the Thriller video. This place just looked like Mayberry among the cornfields.

 

"Oh. My god." Chloe looked around, taking in the familiar storefronts lining Main Street. "How did you--?"

 

"I already _told_ you how," Wally insisted, eyes lighting as inspiration collided headlong with mischief. "Let's go to Metropolis!" Without waiting for the words to sink in, Wally tucked her head back against his neck and took off.

 

A few seconds later they were standing on an overpass near the downtown exchange. Wally took it all in with a quick look around. Towering skyscrapers with their glittering glass windows and glowing corporate logos, street lights that lit theaters, restaurants and clubs in muted halos. High rise condominiums soared off to their left, offering views of the river or the cityscape, and in the heart of it all, a distant globe circled, keeping silent watch over the city. Metropolis was newer than Central City and bigger than Keystone City, some kind of different animal, altogether. Before now, Wally had never actually seen layers of interstate and freeways curled and looped around each other like spaghetti. Red tail lights blinked and glowed in the night for as far as the eye could see, proving the saying true: The Big Apricot never sleeps.

 

"Wow, big town."

 

Chloe closed her mouth so her teeth wouldn't chatter from the chill and shock, blinking when a semi rumbled by and blocked her view of the skyline. "I can't believe this."

 

"Me either. My mom says traffic is always bad in Metropolis, but it doesn't look so rough." Wally set her down, the two of them leaning back against a concrete wall as he waited on Chloe to catch up with the full effect of what had happened. "You okay?"

 

Chloe turned, her brows knitting as she did a mental check. She was still in her pajamas and slippers, they were still standing on the I-70 interchange, the Daily Planet was still slowly spinning in the distance, the same awe inspiring beacon that had always drawn her eyes to the sky. "What just happened here?"

 

Wally grinned proudly. "_You_ just got knocked on your ass with a straight shot of weird."

 

**

 

Chloe snuck back outside, offering Wally a mug of fresh coffee as she settled onto the step beside of him. She had seen twelve states and fourteen major cities within an hour. There was no hope for her hair ever going back to the sleek, urban style she had been sporting for the past few weeks, and one ear was still stinging from wind burn that Wally couldn't stop apologizing for. Chloe grinned down at her reflection in the coffee, still half convinced she had dreamed all of this up after crying herself to sleep.

 

Tonight had been--weird beyond her wildest expectations. Chloe knew she _should_ be worried about what prompted Clark to run away from home. She _should_ be getting together all the latest news on the disappearance of the LuthorCorp jet that had been carrying Lex and Helen to their honeymoon in paradise. Instead, she was sipping coffee on her front steps, wondering if she could somehow hide Wally West in her closet upstairs until she could find time to play with him, again.

 

"Penny for your plots."

 

Chloe pulled away from the warm breath that glanced over her ear, smirking back at him because it really was impossible not to smile at Wally. "I'm not plotting," she shot back, softening a little more as she confessed, "Okay, maybe I'm trying to figure out a way to keep you." Chloe felt the rush of color in her cheeks when Wally grinned in delight, watching his ego puff up faster than Pete's ever had. That had to be a new record for head swelling and she did quick damage control, before it became unmanageable. "For research purposes, of course."

 

"Of course," he agreed, nodding solemnly. When he rested his chin on his chest and quirked a brow, she wanted to kiss away his amused skepticism, and gave herself a quick, stern check for the weakness. Wally may have shared a life-altering secret with her, but he was still little more than a stranger. A seriously cute stranger with sly green eyes, bright red hair, a wicked sense of humor and an arsenal of animated expressions to transform his fox-like features.

 

"Get a grip," she murmured, taking a quick swallow of coffee that burned all the way down. She coughed and blinked back tears when her eyes watered, trying not to slosh her coffee when he patted her enthusiastically on the back.

 

"You okay?"

 

He'd asked that at least a dozen times tonight, every time they had stopped, every time he had revealed another piece of the puzzle of how he had become a speedster. Wally moved faster than sound, but he took his time showing her the powers inside the guy. "Oh, I was just kicking myself for fumbling what's thus far been a snappy exchange of wit. Nothing important." Chloe shrugged, smiling up at him with a hint of self-consciousness. "Can I ask you something?"

 

"Fire away," he said, stretching back to prop his elbows on the steps behind them. He still cradled the mug in one large hand and Chloe focused on the curve of his long fingers around the cup to keep her nerve up.

 

"Are you afraid of me?"

 

Wally sputtered a swallow of coffee, glancing down at her dubiously. "Scared? Of you?" He sat up, fighting back a grin. "Uh, no. I don't think you're gonna be taking me down, anytime soon." His brows furrowed as he leaned down, elbows resting on his knees. She watched as he folded his gangly body in on itself until he was nearly nose to nose with her. "Why would you think I'd be afraid of you, Chloe Sullivan?"

 

Blinking to regain her composure, Chloe tilted her head, trying to size him up. "You just seem. . .really careful about how you're answering my questions." Her lips quavered and she looked away, blowing out a frustrated breath. "I know this makes no sense to you, but I've had a lot of experience with people keeping secrets from me, and I don't know if it's because they think I'm not trustworthy or if I exude this air of 'screw with me and I'll get you a one way ticket to a government lab', or what." She looked up through her lashes, thoroughly disgusted with herself, but finishing quickly. "I just want you to know, I realize this is a big deal for you, and I'd never tell anyone--"

 

Wally's quick kiss was fleeting, chaste in every way except the slight burn it left on her lips in its wake. Her lashes hadn't even fluttered closed when he murmured. "I never would've come over tonight if I hadn't known that."

 

Staring into earnest green eyes, Chloe slipped the tip of her tongue along the part of her lips, skimming for a taste of him lingering there. Realizing she must look like the freak, she finally managed a wavering, upbeat. "Oh," before she pulled back, downing a drink of coffee that masked another look over at him as he scrutinized the toes of his sneakers.

 

Broad shoulders, narrow hips. Lots of bones and angles and long legs that ate up wheat fields and asphalt at frightening speeds. There was nothing soft about Wally West, nothing remarkable that screamed of the incredible future that sprawled in front of him. In Smallville, the jocks might have even chosen him for the scarecrow, if they'd stood a chance of actually catching him. He spent a lot of time with his aunt and uncle or online; if there was another definition of geek, Chloe hadn't got the memo. But there was something in his eyes. Something that hinted at extraordinary things that had nothing to do with his mysterious powers. It was there in the spark that flashed whenever he looked up and dazzled with a grin that had to be fresh out of braces. It was a sense of calm and goodness beneath the outer mania and the mind-boggling abilities. Chloe had felt strangely safe from the moment he picked her up off the bottom step and it was only now that she realized how much she had missed that sense of dependability in the past year.

 

It was. . .weirdly romantic.

 

"Silence makes me nervous." Wally stood, draining his coffee before handing the mug back to her. He looked incredibly insecure and Chloe wondered if he was doubting the impulsive kiss. "I should probably get out of here before your dad wakes up or something."

 

Chloe stood up, shivering a little in the early morning chill. Somehow, Wally had radiated enough body heat that she had been warm for most of the night. It only now struck her as ridiculous, that she had raced around the heartland of the country, in the middle of the night, dressed only in her pajamas. "I'll email you my phone number," she blurted out, mentally kicking herself for sounding pathetic. She hoped it was just the late hour and unbelievably long day. "You could call if you wanted to do--"

 

"Are you busy tomorrow night?" Wally asked at the same time, stepping closer and staving off the chill when his body heat reached out to her again.

 

"I. . .well," Chloe stammered, then realized what she was doing. "Probably not. I mean, my dad and Lana are. . .I guess the house isn't going to exactly be a pleasant place for the next few days."

 

"Then you wouldn't mind someone taking your mind off things for a while."

 

He didn't phrase it as a question, but Chloe saw the bravado behind the grin waver when she caught his gaze. There was just enough uncertainty there to give him a totally lethal jolt of adorable. "Sure. I mean, you might want to give me a call first so I can explain to Lana if you just--show up." She smiled backing away from him up the steps with what had to be a ridiculously cheesy grin. Chloe couldn't care less. "Goodnight." She lifted his empty mug, fingers wiggling around it in a little wave. "I had fun."

 

"Me, too." Wally backed down the drive, matching her grin for grin until he fumbled back over the landscaping stones surrounding the mailbox. Somehow he saved himself from a complete sprawl, holding up his hands to stay any concern. "I'm good. I'm--going home now." Another grin and he was gone.

 

Chloe watched the pansies stir in his wake and squeezed herself in a little hug before she turned and slipped silently back inside.

 

Someone had finally disappeared right before her eyes.


End file.
